Dream Trip 2009

Great Travel Moment

During Operation Desert Shield, prior to the first Gulf War, we often flew our UH-1 Huey helicopters across the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia, between Dhahran on the East coast to the rugged terrain that rose above the desert floor several hundred miles to the West. When crossing such desolate, vast landscape I was amazed that places like this still exist, in this age of increasing urbanization and development. With the crudest of navigation equipment in our Hueys (little more than a compass!) and no real-time wind information available to us, we truly flew by the seat of our pants. When we arrived at the bluffs on the far side of the desert several hours later, it was even money whether we ended up north or south of our intended destination!